Chiefs preparing to defend a ‘tough matchup’ in Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki
Chiefs coach Andy Reid appreciates a good tight end.
Not only did he coach the position early in his pro career, Reid has one of the NFL’s best in Travis Kelce.
So it’s wise to listen when he speaks highly of Miami Dolphins third-year pro Mike Gesicki, who has developed into a pretty good all-around tight end in his own right.
“Mike was a heck of a player in high school and in college, so he’s been able to carry it over,” Reid said. “People at one point thought he’d just be a receiving tight end and he was thin and that whole deal, but he’s filled out nice and I think he’s tremendous.”
The Chiefs have faced their share of quality tight ends, including the likes of Darren Waller, Hunter Henry, Mark Andrews and Rob Gronkowski, through their previous 12 regular-season games.
But the 6-foot-6, 260-pound Gesicki, whose arms measure 34 1/8 inches, provides a unique challenge
“He’s a really great route runner,” Reid said. “He can high-point it, he’s long and so he can go up and get it, and that’s a tough matchup.”
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo agreed.
“He’s a tall drink of water and he has a catch radius,” Spagnuolo said. “That’s one thing we always talk about some of these really good tight ends is that the quarterback just puts it near him, he finds a way to catch it.”
Gesicki is enjoying a breakout season in 2020 and enters Week 14’s matchup against the Chiefs with 39 catches for 537 yards and four touchdowns on 62 targets for a 62.9 catch percentage. He is averaging a career-high 13.8 yards per catch and 44.8 yards per game to put him on pace to top 700 yards receiving for the first time in his young career.
The Dolphins’ tight end has found the end zone in consecutive games and can get deep, as evidenced with a 70-yard reception against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5.
“These tight ends nowadays, I mean, we call them tight ends, but we should be calling them big wideouts,” Spagnuolo said. “He can run, he’s nifty and they find ways to get him the football. I think they do a good job of that.”
If the attributes that Spagnuolo described sound familiar, then it shouldn’t surprise a player like Gesicki takes steps to improve his craft, which includes spending time in the film room to evaluate other tight ends around the league.
The study sessions of the players around the league at his position group include a certain No. 87 in Kansas City.
“I think he watches a lot of the tight ends — the good tight ends in the league, Kelce being one of them,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said Wednesday morning during a Zoom conference call with select Chiefs media members. “Mike is improving, getting better on a weekly basis and I’ve watched him develop a lot over the last couple years and hopefully he continues to develop.”
Chiefs secondary coach Sam Madison, whose safeties might be called on Sunday to help cover Gesicki, also sees some a little of Kelce in how Miami utilizes their tight end.
“The similarities are there,” Madison said. “The different route running and the concepts they have and try to implement those same things, and they’re able to put him in all different type of spots.
“They line him up wide, they line him up in-location — they flex him a lot — so they do a lot of different things with him and he has really good hands, soft hands, and he’s a good route runner.”
The Dolphins’ offense is more than just Gesicki, of course. Miami boasts rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who is 4-1 since taking over as the team’s starter, running back Myles Gaskin and wide receiver DeVante Parker.
Gesicki, though, has quickly developed chemistry with Tagovailoa and has 21 targets over the Dolphins’ past three games, including in last week;s 19-7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
With a clear rapport between Miami’s quarterback and top tight end, the Chiefs know they must quickly account for Gesicki before the snap.
“He’s a weapon from backed up all the way to the red zone,” Madison said. “He is somebody that you have to take your hat off to and make sure that you know where he is at all times.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
